And we’re not the only ones. Investigations of the supplement industry (or, Big Supp) by reputable institutions such as the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the Institute of Medicine have resulted in numerous recommendations to improve dietary supplement safety by, in part, strengthening the FDA’s ability to effectively regulate the industry. Many of these have gone unheeded.

A recent federal law tried to ameliorate this situation by directing the FDA to take specific steps designed to increase supplement safety. Yet the ink of President’s Obama’s signature was barely dry when a bill was proposed in Congress to gut its provisions. In fact, there are now several bills pending in Congress which would actually weaken the government’s already puny regulatory authority over supplements. Yes, things could get even worse.